Union pickets at Rocket Mortgage Classic to support Detroit Golf Club groundskeepers

Five groundskeepers and two mechanics have been without contract for a year

DGC president slaps at "sad and ineffective" action

Kurt Nagl/Crain's Detroit Business

Around 40 union members gathered Wednesday morning for a demonstration organized by Teamsters Local 299 outside the main road to the Detroit Golf Club, site of this week's Rocket Mortgage Classic tournament.

Around 40 people gathered Wednesday morning outside the main road to the Detroit Golf Club — home of this week's Rocket Mortgage Classic PGA Tour tournament — to protest what they are calling unfair treatment of the club's unionized groundskeepers and mechanics. The club called the action "sad and ineffective."

The demonstration was organized by Detroit-based Teamsters Local 299, which has intensified its push for a wage increase after a year without a contract and threatened a strike just as the Rocket Mortgage Classic gets underway. On Wednesday, while the pro-am was underway, protesters waved signs that said: "Teamsters Local 299 On Strike Against the Detroit Golf Club."

Teamsters President Kevin Moore said the demonstrations will grow each day until the Detroit Golf Club meets its demand of a new contract and 45 cents per hour wage increase for five groundskeepers and two mechanics represented by the union. He said the demonstrations have the potential to disrupt the tournament. Passing motorists honked their horns at the demonstrators.

"Their attempt to distract from an event that raises money for local non-profit organizations and burnishes the image of Detroit is sad and ineffective," he said in the written statement. "No union in Washington can cast even a vague shadow on this extraordinary tournament, nor will they succeed in their attempt to pit DGC's amazing employees against each other."

Situated on the corner of Seven Mile Road and Pontchartrain Boulevard, protesters waved signs as vehicles made their way to the event. They handed out pamphlets with a tournament map on one side and a union statement on the other titled "Detroit Golf Club Groundskeepers and Mechanics are Tired of 'Rough' Treatment."

"We have employees who are not being treated fairly," protester Marvin Bowie said.

Bowie, 63, is a member of the union but does not work at the golf club. Even so, he said he felt obligated to support his fellow union members.

"Solidarity — one guy affects us all," he said.

Moore declined to say if any DGC groundskeepers were present during the demonstration, as he said it could jeopardize their employment.